Creating utopian or dystopian worlds in digital games

Abstract

There is a number of digital games that depict various utopian or dystopian worlds. In such games the players are thrown into the game world and they need to learn how to live and survive in that world. In case of games depicting dystopian worlds the players must fight to survive, whereas in case of games depicting utopias the players very often learn that the game’s world is not necessarily as utopian as it looks at the first glance. In such games the players arrive into an already existing utopia or dystopia, and they can only react to the world or possibly try to change it—if the game system allows it. Instead of concentrating solely on depictions of utopian and dystopian worlds in digital games, I would like to focus on games that actually give the players an opportunity to create their own utopian or dystopian world. My analysis will focus on a couple of examples of games that provide players with tools to create their own societies, nations or worlds and the way players can use those tools to try to create a utopian or, if they think that it is a good idea, a dystopian world in the game.